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With so much else to preoccupy our thoughts this week, it’s remarkable that a short promotional film from the US should achieve such cut-through. The Gillette film has divided opinion, and several commentators have their say from a public relations perspective below under ‘campaigns and creativity’.

Insights and opinions: Pick of the posts

These are the editor’s pick of posts about public relations this week (UK focused, but with a global outlook). Recommendations are welcome to editor@prplace.comor @pr_place

Purpose and professionalism

Amanda Coleman:Being human (17 January)‘Humanity and authenticity were themes for the morning with a recognition that we need to be real. It means the end of ego run PR businesses and a recognition that staff are people.’

Robert Phillips: Message to Davos: the world needs a new kind of leadership (16 January)‘The book title [Trust Me, PR is Dead] was ironic but ultimately mis-leading. Storytelling will never die. It feeds a profound human need for comforting narratives. This does not mean that PR is suddenly a profession (it isn’t) or that lying – some call it “fake news” – is acceptable.’

Richard Edelman: A letter to Dan (16 January)‘We have six hundred creatives, planners and paid experts, along with 700 people in digital. So, a quarter of all employees are no longer classic PR experts.’

Arun Sudhaman with Alan VanderMolen: The Echo Chamber podcast (14 January)‘The Chief Communications Officer (CCO) has played second fiddle to the Chief Marketing Officer, especially in consumer-facing companies. You’ve also seen legal overtaking the CCO. Now, the CCO and the skills of a modern CCO are needed in the boardroom more than ever in my 30 year career.’

Careers and skills

Chris Lee: What journalists bring to PR (no date)‘As someone who considers two years in the IT trade pressroom as my most valuable grounding for a further 17 years in PR, I want to discuss what a journalist can bring to the PR table. Clue: it not just about copywriting…’

Sarah Stimson: How to get a job in tech PR (15 January)‘I thought I’d throw it open to my own PR community to see if anyone had any tips, and they really delivered. It was such helpful advice I thought others might find it useful too, so here it all is.’

Farzana Baduel: How to build influence in the workplace (no date)‘Do you know your value? Do you allow others to define your value? If you develop your self-awareness, you will have a true understanding of your value to your organisation and read beyond your job description to understand the sub-text of your true value and existence at work.’

Laura Sutherland: Be remarkable at what you do (15 January)‘There is a tendency to look at what others are doing and get FOMO, or to question what you are currently doing, but to be remarkable in your own business means focussing on your product or service and delivering it in your own special way. No-one else can do that.’

Stephen Davies: 40 life lessons at 40 years old (no date)‘Over time I realised that I actually like where I’m from. I’m proud of my upbringing and my working class background. It was a parochial upbringing which gave me a naive way of seeing the world. Twelve years in London has given me more of an understanding of how the world really works.’

Politics and public affairs

John-Paul Danon: Brexit: The Uncivil War – reflections of an ad man (13 January)‘Programmatic advertising – the ads you’re served online and on social media tailored to match your browsing history – is, without doubt, a powerful tool in the communicator’s armoury. It can target communication campaign messages to specific groups of people based on the anonymised data collected… But it is not in itself insidious, nor evil, nor does it have magical properties.’

Ben Verinder: Cash-strapped colleges should invest in PR (17 January)‘In many colleges, PR exists solely in the form of press agency to support student recruitment[. The vast majority of UK colleges do not employ a qualified public relations practitioner. While there are some brilliant, experienced and qualified practitioners out there, they are the exception.’

Amanda White: An inspiring start to the new year (15 January)‘I’m excited about the opportunities that our Public Advisory Board and our wider public engagement strategy will offer for the future of health data research.’

Alex Aiken: Standards, Democracy and Communities: GCS Challenges for 2019 (14 January)‘The Director of Communication Group met this week and discussed our ambitions for the year ahead. I set out three priorities – raising standards, strengthening our democracy and reassuring communities. Each of these objectives is supported by tangible activity that I believe will help the profession and serve the country.

Internal communication

Is your work award-winning? The Internal Communications & Engagement Awards highlights the impact internal communications has on a business, the role of the internal communicator and the creative strategies developed to promote an engaged workforce. https://t.co/ZYrhBHMxVxpic.twitter.com/qkkNdgqxMJ

Advita Patel: Top three tips to unleash your inner rebel! (18 January)‘Ask the right questions. So often we take things on without questioning the rationale for it and we end up slogging our guts out for minimum return.’

Debs Field: The Only Way is Ethics (15 January)‘There is no point in using our media relations to proclaim how great and upstanding you are if, behind closed doors, your staff know it’s a lie! Not least because all it takes is one disgruntled colleagues and a social media feed.’

Nick Helsby: Internal communications must seize its moment in 2019 (15 January)‘The new UK Corporate Governance code takes effect from January and will require companies to show how directors have engaged with employees and how their interests, and those of other stakeholders, have influenced board decision making.’

Martin Flegg: ‘We need posters and leaflets’ – a simple misunderstanding (13 January)‘Why does a conversation with stakeholders about communication usually start with tactics, and not the business and communication objectives which need to be achieved? I think it’s because of a few fundamental but simple misunderstandings. Here are three of them.’

Helen Deverell: How to create compelling content (11 January)‘Having a strategy and plan doesn’t mean you can’t be creative, simply that you’re more targeted in the way you bring information and stories to life.

Campaigns and creativity: Gillette

Sean Boyle: Why the new Gillette commercial is likely to be nothing more than a flash in the pan (16 January)‘The first thing to say is (and I admit I am somewhat guessing here) I don’t believe this is anything more than a strictly tactical flash in the pan. Although it has a full programme built in behind it (a rather vague $3m committed to charities designed to help men become better role models); it is nevertheless unlikely to mark any radical departure in the day-to-day way this brand talks to men going forward.’

Rebecca Henderson: Creative campaigns #30: Gillette’s We Believe: A Best A Man Can Be (15 January)‘Being brave requires some risk. You’ve got to have some kahunas to do this- to be able to ride out the rough comments and conversations and stick to your guns. To have faith that you’re doing the right thing and your audience will most likely stick by you.’

Andrew Caesar-Gordon: Nice ad, Gilllette – Where’s the PR campaign? (15 January)‘Where is the hard evidence for the campaign? What’s the measure of success? Who is taking ownership of this at Gillette and what will they be doing to push this agenda? What third party will validate the results? I understand that the ad people needn’t care anymore but where is the PR-led campaign to give it substance?’

Technology and AI

Dan Gerrella: Alexa, will 2019 be the year of voice? (15 January)‘This blog was inspired because I got an Echo for Christmas. So far, I’ve used it to check the news headlines, see if my trains are running on time, and play music.’

Kieran Moriarty: Stories: The Imitation Game (16 January)‘Way back in 2013, Snapchat launched one of social media’s most groundbreaking innovations – Stories. Since then, Stories have gone on to be replicated on pretty much every platform and have even overtaken the traditional news feed on Instagram.’

Gemma Storey: Are paywalls the future of online news? (11 January)‘Why shouldn’t media outlets use a paywall? Journalists have to eat after all. High-quality journalism costs money. But is a paywall the answer? Is there another way that these businesses can survive in the age of social media?’

#prstudent #bestPRblogs

PR Careers: Student life: Orlagh Shanks, Liverpool John Moores University‘I think all of us in the PR world are on our own little journeys as we have our own interests, skills and passions which allows us to have such varying roles in varying sectors but the same common ground of PR. Hard workers, those with a positive attitude to life and those who aren’t afraid to go after what they want, inspire me every day.’

‘I know how much I rely on social media, I’m no idiot. I know how much time I spent on it – now even your iPhone can tell you how many hours you’ve spent scrolling through Instagram in one day, that’s pretty scary.’

Aoibheann McKinley (Ulster): Are we a “lazy” generation? (17 January)‘If you didn’t have your smartphone to tell you about everything and anything, would you go to the library to search for a book to read up about it? I mean, the effort!’

Niamh Murray (Ulster): Fake News (15 January)‘Fake news is more than a few computer hackers having a laugh and pulling a prank on the general public. It’s more than ‘satire’ and sarcasm. These fake stories are malicious. They’re giving close-minded people ammunition and supposed “reasons” to hate others and what they stand for.’

Holly Rees (South Wales): Razors and snowflakes (15 January)‘At no point does the [Gillette] film say that being masculine is bad, nor does it in any way suggest that men should be ashamed of who they are (excepting those that harass people/spread violence/etc.).’

Griana Fox (Ulster): Spinning a yarn (15 January)‘[Politics] really does affect our everyday lives, from policy to taxation, so it’s important to incorporate keeping up with current affairs into our daily routines – it’s all too easy to fall down YouTube rabbit holes for hours.’

Lauren Thomas (South Wales): How being an emo kid lead [sic] me into a PR degree (12 January)‘If it wasn’t for this scene growing up I honestly don’t think I’d even be into PR or marketing or anything like this as if it wasn’t for going to gigs and working events I wouldn’t be so interested in the workings behind such things.’